Sidney LitFest brings big readings to Saanich Peninsula

Sidney LitFest turns a page Thursday, opening with Esi Edugyan in Conversation with Carla Funk at the SHOAL Centre.

The 2019 Sidney LitFest runs April 11 to 14 with a goal to celebrate readers and writers and the books that bring them together. The 2019 event features two venues this year, the Mary Winspear Centre and the SHOAL Centre.

The festival was started in 2013 by Sharon Hope and Wendy Picken, and is held every two years. Despite starting small, it continues to grow and 550 people attended the last event.

In attendance will be 16 well-known authors, including a number of local writers, who are nationally recognized.

Friday night enjoy Wine, Words and Music: The Art and Reality of Being a Writer, a panel discussion moderated by Susan Reece with Kate Harris, CC Humphreys, Susan Juby and Kathy Page starting at 7 p.m.

Saturday is filled with writing workshops at the Mary Winspear Centre, staring with the morning reading with Carmen Aguirre, Lorna Crozier and Kate Harris followed by a reading with Steven Heighton and Wayne Johnston. The afternoon starts with the panel discussion, Resilience, Refuge, and Renewal: how have you used these themes to tell your story? moderated by Susan Simosko with Kathy Page, Monique Gray Smith and Timothy Taylor, followed by a reading with CC Humphreys and Fred Stenson.

Saturday at 7 p.m. enjoy Authors Ashore on a Saturday Night: Finding the power to discover and live my own life at the Mary Winspear Centre. This panel discussion is moderated by Jack Knox with David Chariandy, Lorna Crozier, Steven Heighton, Wayne Johnston and Darrel J. McLeod.